On Princes
by novemberthird
Summary: Lily reflects on princes. (Part 18 of my "Excerpts From" series).


**_i own nothing._**

* * *

 _She hated him._

* * *

Lily, as a child, had always wanted a Prince Charming to sweep her away into a magical world where they could live happily ever after as the saying goes. Nights with Petunia had been spent visualizing what their princes would look and be like. Dreams of double weddings spoken between the pair. Petunia hoped for someone tall, dark, and handsome to take her away from Cokeworth. He would be wealthy and ambitious. Lily, however, wanted someone who was kind, funny, and loved her. Although it wouldn't hurt if he had pretty eyes she could look into and fall in love with like in the films.

She was nine when she met a boy who was proud to call himself a Prince, but he was far from her idea of what a prince should be. He could be cruel to people he didn't like (which was most people), he was rather serious for a nine-year-old, and nine-year-olds definitely did not fall in love. Severus was no typical Prince, but he didn't have to be.

She would unfortunately learn that not all Princes were kind rulers. Some would turn out to be prejudice traitors.

* * *

She was eleven-years-old when she met James Potter. Even as an eleven-year-old, he held a certain charisma to him–not that he displayed it upon their initial meeting.

As charming as James Potter would one day grow to be, he was not yet a prince. Perhaps a spoiled one, she would one day tease. But then James never did claim to be anything but a marauder, a troublemaker. But even when he was a hooligan, as Lily's father would have said, he could still be prince-like, but perhaps that was just his need to save everyone, his need to be seen as brave.

She had gotten into a bit of trouble on her first week of first-year. April had gone ahead of her to breakfast after Lily had told her she would go find Severus before class. The halls had been empty as Lily had raced back up the stairs, after remembering she had forgotten her Transfiguration textbook. The stairs, she would find out, weren't so kind. Her foot had gotten stuck in a step after stumbling slightly over her robes. She had been struggling for five minutes when she heard the sound of laughter echoing through the hall. Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter were making their way down to where she was. They paused in their walk when they saw her. Blush coated her face as she saw the corner of Sirius' lips twitch upwards.

James' eyes turnt to shoot him a look. "Need help, Lily?" His voice was soft as he grasped his hair anxiously. After taking a deep breath, she nodded and avoided looking up to meet the gaze of the others as James bent down to remove her foot from the step's wicked grasp.

She thanked him bashfully. Grinning down at her, he shrugged nonchalantly as his friends waited for him. "Were you heading to the Great Hall?"

She shook her head, "I forgot my Transfiguration book in the girls' dormitory. "

"I'll go with you." Opening her mouth, she was on the verge of protesting when he added in, "I forgot my pointed hat. Professor McGonagall will murder me if I don't have it."

"All right," she consented, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I'll see you in class, lads." Adjusting his glasses, he turnt back and asked, "So do you like Quidditch?"

She laughed, no James Potter was definitely not a Prince.

* * *

It was third-year when she would once more revel in the mystery that was James Potter. While he had a tendency to be a bit boisterous in most classes, he was mostly well-behaved in Professor McGonagall's. Although, Lily was of the opinion that he was secretly afraid of their professor. That never stopped him, however, from trying to charm their professor, not that he needed to. McGonagall practically adored James Potter.

Today, however, he was quite quiet with only the occasional whisper to Sirius and Peter. He was distracted, she noted. Feeling someone staring at him, hazel eyes looked up to meet hers. A grin was thrown her way. Blushing, she looked away.

She was walking away with April when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around she saw an uncharacteristically shy smile grace his lips.

"Hello, Lily." She caught the look Sirius had on his face, slightly annoyed and bored as he spoke to Peter. "Could I talk to you alone for a moment?" Ruffling his hair, his eyes briefly drifted over to April.

A teasing smile took over her face, "Well, I could tell where I'm not wanted." Stifling her laughter, April walked away.

Lily adjusted the books in her arms before turning back to gaze at him. "James?"

"I just wanted to ask a favour. I don't take Divination and neither does Sirius, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking notes for Remus? I would have asked Peter to do it but his handwriting is dreadful."

Her eyebrows knit together, "Why isn't he in class today?"

A slight frown appeared on his face. "He's sick again."

"Oh," her eyes shifted to the floor momentarily. "Of course, I'll give you the notes later today."

"Thank you." She never realized how cute his smile was, but before she could think too much about it, he had already walked away.

The boy still wasn't a prince, but perhaps someday he would be.

* * *

It was fifth-year when Lily began to realise her feelings for a certain someone–too bad he was a prat. She didn't know where to begin with James Potter who could be sweet one moment and a complete arsehole the next–especially to Sev. April thought he fancied her, but Lily just thought he was just being a typical boy as her mother would have said and showed off for the whole of Hogwarts to notice him. She didn't quite understand that, however. Everyone knew who he was, he hardly needed to remind anyone of it.

"Hey, Evans." He called out to her as she passed him on her way up to the girls' dormitory. His voice had deepened.

She stopped on one of the steps. Turning around she said, "Hello, James." Her heartbeat had quickened at the lopsided smile on his face. His friends all watched him as he ruffled his hair. Remus looked at him with both amusement and sympathy in his eyes while the other two laughed (although she could see the brotherly affection displayed).

She hated the way he made her face heat up. She also hated the guilt she felt for fancying someone who not only hated her best friend but was hated by him. The affection she felt for him couldn't be helped however, and she didn't think she would have stopped them even if she could.

"Hi," he said again. He appeared to be in distress as he looked back at his friends. A giggle escaped her lips, "Good-bye." She waved at him as she continued up the stairs. A feeling of euphoria overcame her as she made her way to her bed, letting out another laugh at the adorable idiot.

April sent her a questioning look before sighing softly, "James Potter?"

"James Potter," Lily confirmed.

So maybe he wasn't a Prince, it didn't matter just yet. As far as the universe was concerned, Lily Evans was not in any kind of rush–her hormones, on the other hand, would disagree.

* * *

Lily Evans threw herself onto her boyfriend's bed, earning herself the sweet-sound of his laughter.

"Lil," James said as he brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "What are you doing?"

"Protesting," she mumbled into the bed.

He placed a kiss onto the top of her head. "Do I want to know what?"

"Transfiguration, Potions, Head Duties, everything really."

"Are you protesting me?" She didn't have to look up at him to know there was a twinkle in his stupid yet beautiful eyes.

"If you misbehave, yes." She let her eyes look up at him as he smiled wolfishly at her. Pinning her lightly to the bed, he began planting kisses up her neck that caused her to squeal and squirm slightly.

"When do I ever behave, Cariad?" Cupping her face lightly, he smiled down at her before placing his mouth firmly against hers.

Lily supposed she never really needed a prince, James Potter was far better than any prince she would ever encounter.

* * *

 _Nah, she didn't._


End file.
